Project description:Many bacteria, often associated with eukaryotic hosts and of relevance for biotechnological applications, harbor a multipartite genome composed of more than one replicon. Biotechnologically relevant phenotypes are often encoded by genes residing on the secondary replicons. A synthetic biology approach to developing enhanced strains for biotechnological purposes could therefore involve merging pieces or entire replicons from multiple strains into a single genome. Here we report the creation of a genomic hybrid strain in a model multipartite genome species, the plant-symbiotic bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. We term this strain as cis-hybrid, since it is produced by genomic material coming from the same species' pangenome. In particular, we moved the secondary replicon pSymA (accounting for nearly 20% of total genome content) from a donor S. meliloti strain to an acceptor strain. The cis-hybrid strain was screened for a panel of complex phenotypes (carbon/nitrogen utilization phenotypes, intra- and extracellular metabolomes, symbiosis, and various microbiological tests). Additionally, metabolic network reconstruction and constraint-based modeling were employed for in silico prediction of metabolic flux reorganization. Phenotypes of the cis-hybrid strain were in good agreement with those of both parental strains. Interestingly, the symbiotic phenotype showed a marked cultivar-specific improvement with the cis-hybrid strains compared to both parental strains. These results provide a proof-of-principle for the feasibility of genome-wide replicon-based remodelling of bacterial strains for improved biotechnological applications in precision agriculture.
Project description:To address the question of how photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris differentially regulates gene expression of three nitrogenase isozymes (Mo, V, and Fe nitrogenases), we constructed Mo strain (Mo nitrogenase only strain), V strain (V nitrogenase only strain), and Fe strain (Fe nitrogenase only strain), and analyzed the whole genome transcriptome profiles of each mutant and wild-type cells grown under nitrogen-fixing conditions. Keywords: Genetic modification
Project description:The purpose of the study is to identify Irr-responsive genes in the bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Parent strain LO was compared to irr mutant strain LODTM5 by whole genome microarray analysis. Both cell types were grown in iron-limited media. Keywords: Comparison of B. japonicum wild type and mutant cells